Train wrecks decrease locally, statewide

Published 7:00 pm, Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Texas showed a 13 percent decrease over the last year in train derailments and accidents, and Midland officials say the local decrease is because of two programs the city uses.

The Federal Railroad Administration reported the Lone Star State was one of 34 states to see reduced accidents last year, and one of 11 to report a decrease of 17 or more railroad-related accidents.

"Safety is a top priority for the railroad industry and it shows," Edward Hamberger, president and CEO of the Association of American Railroads, stated in a press release.

This is the third consecutive year the number of accidents are down nationwide.

Sgt. Rick Lewis with the Midland Police Department said Wednesday the two main reasons local train and vehicle accidents are lower now than in previous years are because of a new traffic enforcement program the city does in cooperation with Union Pacific and because of the recent construction of "Quiet Zone" areas.

Twice a year, the MPD participates in the C.A.R.E. (Crossing Accident Reduction Enforcement) program along with Union Pacific. Lewis said an officer will ride in an engine and travel up-and-down the tracks along Front Street, watching for violators and writing citations to drivers when needed.

Last August, the department wrote 66 citations.

While most of those were written to drivers for speeding and failure to wear seat belts, 30 of those tickets were written to drivers who either stopped on the tracks, stopped too close to the tracks or disregarded the crossing arms and drove around them.

Quiet zones, which were established through parts of the city by Midland transportation manager Gary Saunders, also have helped to reduce the number of collisions, Lewis said.

Concrete medians - installed last summer near all the crossings - help to barricade drivers and to stop them from cutting across diagonally under the crossing guard arms in front of oncoming trains.

He said before the medians were put into place, the department had responded to several on-scene accidents. Since then, though, there have only been two.

The most recent train and vehicle collision to happen in Midland occurred last fall, Lewis said. A drunken driver was crossing the railroad track near Midkiff Road when he got his car stuck on the tracks. Officers were able to get him and his passengers out of the vehicle but were not able to move the car before a train came.

So do the two programs help solve the solution fully for the Tall City?

Lewis said no.

"We still have people who pull up on the tracks or in close proximity of them," he said.

But he does offer some tips for drivers for being safe when near railroad crossings.

Drivers should keep themselves at least 15-feet from the crossings and to not pull up and wait on the tracks even when there are no trains coming, he said.